This would explain why an anonymous life threatening message warning that you will be ‘six feet under’ in a few days would leave you shaken.
A spot check with several police stations within Nairobi County reveals that hundreds of Kenyans have received messages threatening physical harm.
Already police are trailing the users of two notorious phone numbers within Nairobi, which have largely been used to send threatening messages to gullible Kenyans.
What should you do, in case you find yourself in such a situation?
– Case Studies –
Such a message took John to Kilimani police station where he expressed fear for his life. Being a businessman within the city; he did not want to take chances.
“Yani umefungwa macho na ukabebewa akili hata huelewi venye kunaenda. Utajuta mwenyewe (You must have been blinded and brainwashed not to know what’s going on. You’ll come to regret it),” the message read.
“I am very worried for my life. I don’t know whether it (the message) has come from thugs or business partners or,” a visibly shaken John told Capital FM News after recording a statement with the police.
He had received two messages from two different phone numbers and according to him; the first message was more toned down.
“Uko mjanja but hesabu kuanzia leo; siku tatu hazitaisha kama hujawekwa futi sita chini (You are cunning but you’ll find yourself six feet under three days from now,” the second message he received reads.
Ruth received a message identical to that of John except from a different number.
Ruth, an investigative journalist based in Nairobi, received the message while the country was reeling from the news that human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and driver Joseph Muiruri were executed by police in cold blood.
Ruth had told the story of a victim of police brutality.
“When I received the message and knowing what had happened to lawyer Kimani, I thought they were coming for me,” she said. “Actually, I thought in a few days I would be six feet under as threatened.”
In her case, Ruth did not report the threat to the police whom she mistrusts: “I used other contacts to investigate. But I was worried.”
Another victim was called by unknown people, who demanded money.
“It was at night and I was asleep when I received the call. The unknown caller, a man with a heavy voice, asked me to either send money or they would break into my house,” she narrated.
“The caller continued to call until my husband took his call and asked them to stop forthwith; it has worked so far.”
She believes the callers could have been “those guys in Kamiti prison” and she did not report the matter to the police.
– Security tips –
Many believe that such messages originate from those locked away in prisons such as Kamiti; those looking to make an easy buck and don’t take them too seriously.
But the police however advise that all such cases should be reported to them.
“It’s always good to go get an OB number and ensure you pursue it with the CID,” a senior detective advised.
In some incidents, police say some people have gone ahead to send cash, after they received either a threat message or a call.
The probability of the messages originating from prison facilities cannot be disputed but police say, “some could be from idlers who just want to make money the easy way.”
Though a number of cases have been proved not to be genuine, police caution that the threat, in some incident can be real and hence the need to report.
You should never ignore or underestimate any threat either through a call or a text message but police caution that you should not engage those calling or sending threatening messages.
Don’t respond, don’t engage, that’s golden rule,” the senior detective said.
Rule two: keep a record of the messages and if possible record the threatening phone conversations, “and then inform a friend or a relative about it, not forgetting the investigating authorities.”
Like indicated in the case studies, though many victims did not report to police, as recommended, they informed their relatives while other used “their contacts” to establish the truth.
A person should also print such messages, note down the date, time, identity of the caller if possible and if not establish why – the phone could be switched off- and then inform a friend or a relative about it.
The other rule according to police, Kenyans must desire to understand how the “phone bully’s operate, so that you are never caught off guard and if it happens, you know what to do.”
In some cases, police admit it could be, “vicious,” in cases where the phone ‘bully’ possesses personal information on their victim.
“In such a case don’t fall into their trap, maintain your calm. Don’t be fooled by this trick. At times they just provoke you and in the process you end up releasing your personal details subconsciously.”
“They jerk your string, you jump. By refusing to jump, you deny them their sense of satisfaction,” Richard Thuta, a Nairobi based security expert observed
